Another Birthday Bunny...

Hello folks!!

Firstly... Happy New Year to you all, I hope 2017 has started well for you and that you had a lovely Christmas time!! :) Secondly, I finally have another card to share with you... made for my lovely Mum's birthday just before Christmas...

My mum has always loved rabbits since being given a toy one- named Mr Bun, and who still resides, wrapped up safely, in Mum's wardrobe to this day!- so I ordered her a lovely mug with a watercoloured bunny as one of her presents and decided to continue the theme with her card and use an equally gorgeous LOTV bunny stamp :) I have had this stamp for a very long time (bought to use for my Mum!) but think this is the first time I've actually used it... it definitely won't be the last as I love it even more now!! 😍 I'm sooo glad I have it as it's one of the many that has now been discontinued :(

The image is simply coloured on cream cardstock (Papermill Direct's Cream Smooth, which I've found to be fine for colouring with markers on so long as you're not worried about laying down too much ink for perfect blending... and I like the relaxed style of quicker colouring so it's all good here!! ;) ) with Pro/FlexMarkers and Warm Grey Copics for the bunny... with a little added glitter and shimmer here and there, of course!! :)

I also added a bit of blue paper to match the butterflies and a scattering of diecut hearts and sequins... so many of my favourite brands made it on to this card!!! lol

{The List}

Cardstock - Papermill Direct - Cream Smooth; SU! - Blushing Bride

Stamps - Lili of the Valley - Gift Wrapped (retired); Clearly Besotted Stamps - Many Mini Messages

Dies - Simon Says Stamp - Mum, Mini Hearts Set; CBS - Scalloped Edge (retired)

Colouring Medium - ProMarkers, FlexMarkers and Copics

Inks - Memento  - Tuxedo Black; VersaMagic - Pretty Petunia, Cloud White

Papers - My Mind's Eye - Lost and Found Portobello Road

Tools - Cuttlebug

Embellishments - Little Things by Lucy's Cards Sparkly Shaker Selection - Cherry Blossom, Forget Me Not

Finishing Touches - Wink of Stella Brush Pen - Clear; Sakura Stardust Pen - Clear

{Challenges}

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - Anything Goes

And, last but not least, a fuller pic to show the lovely mug :) I only discovered the amazing artist, Hannah Dale of Wrendale Designs, late last year when a friend posted a picture of a book she had won... it was full of gorgeous dog images with a Black Lab on the cover and I fell in love there and then!! 😍 When I searched for the book on Amazon, though, I discovered she paints sooo many stunning animals and there are all manner of different items... if I had the room in amongst the craft stash I'd totally start collecting!!! lol

Right, I'm off to press post then to bed! Thank you for reading, have a good week!! :)

Bunny Birthday...

Hello everyone!! :)

Happy Hallowe'en to all those who celebrate it... and to those who don't, I hope avoiding the Trick or Treaters hasn't driven you mad!! ;D 

I cannot quite believe that I missed posting in September and had to say goodbye to my 'One Post A Month' goal... I just didn't actually realise it was the end of the month- thought I still had at least a few days left!! :( That's this year in a nutshell though, isn't it?! It has just flown by soooo fast!!! :/ I'm still really disappointed, to be honest, to have got over halfway and then let it slip... but I still intend to make one a month for the rest of the year... hence this *very* last minute post again tonight...

This is the card I made for my lovely Grandad's birthday a few weeks ago... I did planes for Father's Day so I thought this time I would go with a bit of cute fun... and no-one does that better than Lili of the Valley!! :) 

It's been a while since I did much colouring and I feel kind of rusty lately every time I try but, so long as you don't look *too* closely, I think this feela came out looking just about okay!! lol

I've not had a huge amount of energy going spare for cardmaking lately so I kept him pretty simple... some dotty paper, an old-skool label-maker sentiment (another purchase made after a Skype session keeping Jen company while she crafted!!! lol), some glitter, sequins and of course, a glossy balloon... thankfully these images lend themselves perfectly to CAS cardmaking as well as more involved styles!! :)

{The List}

Cardstock - Papermill Direct - White Smooth

Stamps - LOTV - Balloon Bunny

Dies - Simon Says Stamp - Stitched Shapes

Colouring Medium - ProMarkers and FlexMarkers

Inks - Memento - Espresso Truffle

Papers - Simple Stories - Sn@p! Color Vibe (an amazing pad of spots, dots, stripes and chevrons... soooo useful!!!)

Tools - Cuttlebug, Label Maker, Guilloutine

Embellishments - Little Things from Lucy's Cards Sequins in Fairy Lights

Finishing Touches - Clear Wink of Stella, SU! Crystal Effects

Challenges I'm entering: SSS Wednesday - Anything Goes

Okay... now I'm off to bed before the Witching Hours strikes!!!! ;) Thanks for reading and I'll hopefully be back before the 30th of  November... I'm not sure why I always leave it so late since I have so many things I'd love to share!!! lol Have a great week, folks!! :)

Daffs and Bunnies... Easter again!! ;)

 Hi everyone!! :)

I popping in (just in the knick of time again!) with my post for April... I was honestly so sure I would manage two posts this month but... you know... life always has other ideas!! lol

Anyway, I have another Easter card to share this time... this one went to my Mum who claimed the image as soon as she saw it coloured on my desk!! :)

I managed to get hold of this cutie from Lili of the Valley when they re-released some old favourites earlier this year and I'm so glad I did... very cute... and very easy to colour!! ;D I just die-cut him with my new MFT Wonky Stitched Squares (love these and can't wait to get a hold of the rectangles!!) and added a few sequins and some Wink of Stella... with the dotty card base to add interest, it really didn't need anything more!! Perfect since, as usual, I was on the last minute getting this one finished!! lol

{The List}

Cardstock - Polka Dot card from Anna-Marie Designs (I think!)

Stamps - LOTV - Spring Bunny with Daffs; Woodware Clear Magic - All Through the Year

Dies - MFT - Wonky Stitched Rectangles, Fishtail Flag Stax

Colouring Medium - ProMarkers and FlexMarkers

Inks - Memento - Espresso Truffle

Tools - MISTI, Cuttlebug

Embellishments - Little Things by Lucy's Cards  - Sequins from a mixture of  Shaker Selections; DoCrafts - Anita's 2mm Gems

Finishing Touches - Wink of Stella Clear

Challenges: Addicted to Stamps and More - Anything Goes; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - Anything Goes

Well, I'm off to link up and get ready for bed... I seem to be able to sleep for England at the mo' after a busy week last week!! :/ Hope you're all well and enjoying the week so far... let's hope the weekend brings back that lovely warm sunshine from last week!!

Cute Christmas Owls...

Hello everyone!! :) And A Happy New Year to you all!! :) I'm popping in today after yet another long and unintended break- when will this 'Real Life' thing stop getting in the way of my blogging schedule?!?!! ;D - to share some of the few Christmas cards I actually managed to make this year... hopefully while the challenge that helped inspire them is still open!! ;)

I borrowed this gorgeous Lawn Fawn Winter Owl Stamp Set and Die from Jen after she made a few adorable cards with it last Christmas... and it took me 'til the week before the big event this year to do anything with them... but I loooove them now I have... so much I may need my own!! ;)

I kept it nice and simple as I needed to make several along the same lines, and enlisted some help (thanks, Mum!) in putting my SSS Stitched Shapes dies to good use for a simple frame, with some of my favourite Christmas/Winter paper pack, Winter Wishes from Echo Park :) A spot of CBS magic for the sentiment and banner die, a generous coating of Wink of Stella (of course!) on their scarves and the edges of the layers... and I had four *very* cute little 4" cards to add to my meagre stash :) Here they all are:

{The List}

Cardstock - Papermill Direct - White Smooth

Stamps - Lawn Fawn - Winter Owl; CBS - Many Mini Messages

Dies - Lawn Fawn - Winter Owl , SSS - Stitched Squares, Stitched Circles, Stitched Flakes; CBS - Keep in Touch Die Collection (banner)

Colouring Medium - ProMarkers

Inks - Memento - Espresso Truffle

Papers - Echo Park - Winter Wishes

Tools - Cuttlebug (plus one pair of stronger arms than mine!), Heat Gun

Embellishments - 3mm Gems

Finishing Touches - Clear Wink of Stella

I'd like to enter these in: Freshly Made Sketches #217:

 

Thank you for reading this (anybody who is still out there and following my little blog after all these interruptions, anyway!)... I always say it but it's always true... I hope I'll be back again before *too* long as I do so miss blogland and all you lovely folk when life gets in the way!! In the meantime, I hope you all had a good Christmastime and that 2016 brings you lots of precious moments!! :)

#ThrowbackThursday :: Cute & Cuddly :)

Hello :)

Long time, no blog again... health stuff... life stuff... etc., etc.... I won't bore you all with the details or excuses again!! ;) I'm glad to be back, anyway, and thought I'd get things going again with an idea I had a while ago whilst going through the mountains of photos on my computer... I realised I have a huge number of photos of cards, jewellery and other crafty things from quite a while back which I have never got around to posting and, since I am finding myself with less energy for crafting (cardmaking in particular) at the moment, I thought I would start a little as-and-when series of throwback posts... which I will post on a Thursday and tag with the well known #ThrowbackThursday or #tbt hashtag :) I will still be posting new cards when I can, of course, but I'm hoping this may help me to fill the gaps of time a little ;) 

So... up first in my #tbt series, a little CBS Baby card from about 18 months ago...

It was for my cousin to celebrate the birth of her little girl... I kept it simple as I was having trouble with the old mojo at the time but I ended up loving it :)

A stamped, diecut and watercoloured giraffe, along with an assortment of stamped hearts on the notebook page and two sentiments, all from CBS, and then a sprinkling of diecut hearts and gems was all there was to it... of course, we crafters know nothing is ever as 'simple' as that at the time but, looking back on it now, it seems like should have been!! ;)

I also stamped a few of the hearts on the inside lining papers to prettify it all a little... excuse the slightly grey area between the two hearts on the inside front in the photo above- I stamped the baby's name and birthdate in that gap but blanked it out for my post :)

{The List}

Cardstock - PaperMill Direct - Baby Pink, White Linen and assorted scraps for the hearts

Stamps - Clearly Besotted Stamps - Cute & Cuddly, Baby Love, Many Thanks, Many Messages and Just A Note

Dies - Clearly Besotted Stamps - Cute & Cuddly; Simon Says Stamp - Holiday Shapes and Large Holiday Shapes; MFT - Notebook Edge

Inks - Memento - Rose Bud, Lulu Lavender, Angel Pink and Lilac Posies

Colouring Medium - Watercolour with Brilliance Pearlescent Purple and Pearlescent Orchid

Embossing - Versamark Ink and Crafter's Companion White Embossing Powder

Tools - Heat Gun

Embellishments - Docrafts Anita's - 3mm and 2mm gems

Finishing Touches - Sakura Stardust Pen - Clear

Challenges I'd like to enter: Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Anything Goes ; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes ; Addicted to Stamps and More - Make Your Mark :)

I thought I would also share a pic of the felt heart decoration I made to send with the card with the little one's initial on it... this was my first felt decoration and, while not perfect by any means, I was pretty pleased with how it came out :) I did go on a search for a more solid felt after this though, as this wool/acrylic blend really wasn't very strong for sewing and stuffing... it is lovely and soft though and will get used for less demanding purposes :)

Okay, that's all from me today... I'll hopefully be back before *too* long, though, and will maybe share a few pics from my amazing outing to see the Cherry Blossoms at out local park last week, something that has been a dream through years of living housebound!! :) :) :)

An easter card? This early?!

Hello again everyone!! :)

I'm back at last with another LIM card... wasn't sure I would make it this week as I first had to wait for my new cardstock (ordered last week!!) to arrive so I could put my card together, then had to wait for my body to stop messing me about so I felt well enough to get the pics taken... oh, yes- and there might have been a Skype chat with Jen and a CBS release that took up most of Wednesday evening too... !! ;) But I'm here now, so I'll get to the point...

Jen and Chrissie asked for Yellow and Green cards this week... at first my mind flew to tulips and daffodils... but then I started really thinking about all the unused stamps I had uncovered in the last week for mine and Jen's challenge (more on that later!) and I remembered this little LOTV bunny :)

He's simply coloured with Pro and FlexMarkers, edged with yellow ink, embellished with some Mimosa seam binding then added to a Lime Green card blank with a bit of Wink of Stella on the flowers to finish... nice and easy... I think this may be my grandparents' Easter card :) Must be a record for me to have an easter card made more than six weeks early!! lol

{The List}

A6 Top-fold card blank - Papermill Direct Lime Green

Stamps: Image - Lili of the Valley - Spring Swing; Sentiment - Clearly Besotted Stamps - Spring Blooms

Ink - Memento - Espresso Truffle; VersaMagic - Thatched Straw

ProMarkers and FlexMarkers (no colours, I'm afraid... so out of practise I put them away without taking note)

Seam Binding - Ribbon Girl - Mimosa

Wink of Stella - Clear

Corner Chomper

Challenges: Less is More - Yellow and Green :)

This card also fits with my own Clean & Simple Characters series, which aimed to get me using more of my many character stamps and has been sadly neglected since the first post last year!! :(

I've been busy making cards this week but can't share just yet as the recipients read my blog... but I'll be back soon!! :)

Thank you so much to those who left comments on my last post to... a lovely warm welcome back to blogland and I sooo appreciate it!! :) Hope you've all had a lovely week so far!! :)

{{ Also, Please excuse any oddities with my blog design- I redesigned my header to get a long-overdue makeover in place with some help from Jen... and I love it- much more me and in keeping with my card style these days!! :) ... but there are still a few details I haven't got to yet!! :) }}

Clean & Simple Characters - Clean & Simply Gorjuss...

Hello there!! :)

Well, I'm finally back after another unintended hiatus from blogging... have still been crafting though, so plenty to share with you!! :) Starting with the first post in my new little personal challenge series inspired by the lovely Jen :) I mentioned here that around the same time as Jen started her fab CAS Mondays with LOTV, I had also been having a craft-space sort out and realised anew just how many character stamps I had and how little use they were getting recently within my recent CAS stamps/inks/dies phase... and so, following Jen's lead, I decided I would set myself a little challenge too... and to keep me motivated, I thought I'd make it a series on my lil' blog...

... I am calling it Clean & Simple Characters and the idea is to still make CAS cards which are relatively quick and easy to put together but which also include all my lovely character images and give my ProMarkers and FlexMarkers a bit of use... until I started this they had barely been out of the box all year!! :S

I have been wanting to give sepia colouring with my PMs/FMs a go for a while since I saw my lovely friend, Elaine, making some fab cards this way and I decided to restrict myself to just the colours I have in my FlexMarkers to keep it all as simple as possible... I started with this lovely Gorjuss Girl stamp I got a little while ago, from the new DoCrafts GG range, and hadn't used yet (as the size of it threw me a tad to be honest- it's huge!!lol) and, until I had the CAS idea, I hadn't been able to work out what I could do with it...

... and I had so much fun that I went on, over the next few days, to colour my other three Gorjusses and a Simply Sassy in the same way, too, (along with a couple of flowers which I'll share soon but don't fit the series)!! :)

 This one was the first GG I got from Sugar Nellie years ago and is still my favourite... I just think she is so pretty with her little flowers :)

I embossed all the images with WOW! semi-dull powder before colouring and added a little Antique Linen Distress Stickles to them at the end :)

The frames on these two were leftovers/waste from some kraft squares I cut ages ago but saved as I thought they'd make great frames... nearly chucked them a few times as they were getting on my nerves on my desk but glad I didn't now!!lol

And for this last one, I pulled out a fab Simply Sassy stamp which I've had for ages and really love but, for some strange reason, hasn't been used that much... like the GGs, she was a dream to colour in this way and I had fun- and possibly got a tad carried away!!lol- playing with some teeny hearts and stars from CBS to make a bokeh-ish background for her :)

{ The List }

Cream card blanks (top- fold A6 and 5" Square) and more cream card from stamping on

Stamps - Simply Gorjuss - New Heights from Do Crafts

Gorjuss Girls - Poppy Fields, Little Goth Girl and Sitting from Sugar Nellie

Simply Sassy - Luv a Latte by Krista Smith from Sugar Nellie

VersaMagic Ink pad in Jumbo Java

Wow! Clear Matte Semi-dull embossing powder and heat tool

FlexMarkers - Rosewood, Auburn, Saddle Brown, Nutmeg, Cappuccino, Sandstone, Light Fawn, Champagne, Linen, Antique White, Sunkissed Pink

Button Twine and Seam Binding - Brown and Rose Petal from The Ribbon Girl

Clearly Besotted Many Thanks stamp set and VersaMagic inks in Wheat and Sahara Sand for hearts and stars background on Luv a Latte card

Sentiments - Poppy Fields card- Woodware Clear Magic Salutations

Sitting card- Papermania Honey and Hugs set

Little Goth Girl and Luv a Latte cards- LOTV Tags stamp sheets

Antique Linen Distress Stickles

Sakura Clear Stardust pen

I'd like to enter all but the first of these into the Sugar Bowl - Anything Goes challenge :) and the rest into: Passion for ProMarkers - Ribbon, Lace or Twine :) ; Addicted to Stamps - Make Your Mark :) ; Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes :)

Well, that's the first post- and the first *five* cards- in my little Clean and Simple Characters series... I love the sepia look and limiting my colour palette definitely helped the process go more quickly and feel much more relaxed... I have a lot more images I think would look great in sepia but I'd also like to try some other restricted palettes... and it was so much fun to play with my images and pens again!! :) Thank you again Jen for the inspiration!! :) My challenge is just for me- no linky or anything like Jen's) and it will be an 'as and when' kind of thing but I hope that it might be fun to read and maybe even inspire a few people to have a go and mix those character with CAS!! :)

Thanks for stopping by today and for reading this v long post (I was going to post all the cards seperately but it seemed daft to spend energy on several different posts when they'd all be so similar!!lol)... hope you enjoyed it anyway!! :) I'm not sure when I'll make it back but I hope it won't be too long :) Hope everyone's okay and had a lovely long weekend... I got to meet Jen who came to visit and we chatted like we'd known each other forever so I had a fab weekend- thanks hon!! :D :D